


What Is Overshadowing?

by TheOnlyWife



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Amity Park Is Strange (Danny Phantom), Light Angst, One Shot, Original Character(s), POV Outsider, Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOnlyWife/pseuds/TheOnlyWife
Summary: Officer McFalin comes across the strangest town. Talks of an invasion lead him to a giant house with neon lights and to the strangest woman. She keeps guns on her, has intricate knowledge of ghostly possesion, and, most strangely, her own son is afraid of her.
Relationships: Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton
Comments: 12
Kudos: 129





	What Is Overshadowing?

Officer McFalin had seen and heard some terrible things. Murder, rape, shootouts where no one comes out alive. Horrible acts, really. And he goes home and prays to God that never happens to him and his kids.

And he'd been called to some strange places before. Deserts, apartments thirty-five stories high, even supposedly "haunted" places. Not that he believed in ghosts or the paranormal before. Before, that is, he came to Amity Park.

Right when he stepped into the cursed place he knew it would be a bad day. People walking around all normal like, then shifting their eyes, scanning a room and the people in it. He'd only ever seen other cops do that kind of thing. Something you pick up when faced with danger, it's normal, really.

But these people were not cops. They were regular people: parents, teachers, students, and children. He creeped through the oddly quiet town, pausing to gawk at some weird signs. 'Stay inside during ghost attacks' ', 'Let your local law enforcement handle invasions', and all kinds of odd posters hung up along street lamps. Not only that, but a lot of said street lamps were bent, broken, or straight-up torn clean off. 'What in the name of all things holy is going on in here?' he thought upon coming up on the sheriff's station.

He walked through the door that had honestly seen better days, all worn out on the hinges, and saw the strangest thing. No one. No cops busying themselves with paperwork or criminals shouting loudly from the cells he knew were only a few rooms down. Nothing like the station from his hometown.

Nevertheless he walked up to what he assumed to be the main office desk and knocked politely on the wooden desk. Or at least, he would have, had he gotten to the desk before the lady manning it hadn't said something. Weirdest thing, she didn't even look up from her desk before addressing him. She gave a neutral-sounding welcome and turned back to what she was doing. Putting that aside for later, like every odd thing he'd seen in the first 20 minutes of being here, he gave her a friendly smile.

"Hello there, miss, I'm Officer McFalin from Madison County. I've come to see-"

"The ghosts? We've got it covered, Officer. We certainly don't need another lawmaker who fancies himself some judge coming in and taking care of our business."

He was taken back if nothing else. To be frank, he expected the people here to plead for his help with whatever problem they were having. Not this cold reaction to even the mention of him helping out. He should have been offended, he really should have. Being treated like that isn't something someone should do. But then the absurdity of what she said caught up to him.

"Pardon me" he began slowly, "but did you say...ghosts?" She only gave a curt nod in response. He shook his head at the ridiculous idea. Ghosts were just some silly old wives tale, certainly not some town crisis.

She seemed to catch on to his thoughts before he could say something he would probably regret. "Don't believe me about us having ghosts? Can't say I blame you, sir. But stick around for a bit before you leave. You'll see one eventually." She made it clear that he was leaving.

He huffed out a breath, taking offense to her brash words and standoffish demeanor. Nevertheless he started chuckling. "Alright, you got me. Very funny. So what's actually the problem here? Too little people for crime to happen? Some drug issue keeping the town in ruin?" She didn't give. Didn't laugh it off like he was trying to.

So he stopped laughing. "Really, now, ghosts? You expect me to believe you just like that?" he snapped his fingers for emphasis.

She seemed to take offense to that, and stood up from her desk to look him dead in the eyes. "I'm going to say this only once, sir. People have gotten hurt. We're only lucky that no one has died yet, and we have that Phantom kid to thank. We don't need any more ghosts on our hands". She mumbled the last part, but he heard her just fine.

He could hardly believe this. It must be some kind of bit and she was just playing the long game. But he'd play along. "Say I believe you for one second. Phantom? That's this ghost's name? Not very creative, missy. If you're trying to pull a fast one it aint working." He was frowning halfway through his first sentence. She got real angry at that, but kept her cool.

"There's these people. The Fentons. Live in a huge house with some giant monstrosity on top of it. They say it can turn into a blimp or a jet, and some of us claim to have seen it. Either way, it's so huge you can't miss it. Go there, ask for Maddie and Jack Fenton. You'll learn a bit about how we run things around here, sir. Bit of advice? Might want to start with the invasion. Happened not too long ago."

Well he clearly wasn't going anywhere with this surprisingly unpleasant lady, so he turned his angry butt right around and walked out the door he came in. He ended up walking around a bit, sulking if he was being honest, but feeling more and more confused with this town the deeper he went.

To be fair on that lady's part, he did come across the house she was talking about. She wasn't kidding, but odd houses were still more believable than ghosts being real. Couldn't deny this though. He saw that...thing a few blocks away. Long before he even saw the house.

He walked around the block, around the houses in between him and the house, determined to get there. The closer he came, the taller this house seemed to grow. He eventually had to crane his neck high up to even see the windows on the top portion, let alone the top of it.

But it seemed like when he got there, to the door at least, it looked kind of normal. He hesitated, though, and that was killer. Everything looked fine, save for the giant illuminating billboard screaming "Fenton Works" and supposed jet on top of the house. But what kind of people live here? Eventually he just said 'screw it' and knocked. He heard muffled shuffling through the wood, some talking, then footsteps moving closer to the door.

First thing he saw was blue. A lot of blue. A woman came to the door with some kind of hood up, blocking his view of the top half of her face. She pulled it down shortly after seeing someone she didn't know, though.

He presumed this was the Maddie that lady was telling him about, and started talking her up. "Hello, I'm Officer McFalin from Madison County. I've heard you have a certain issue with the town and that I could learn a few things from you. I'm hesitant to say it but...ghosts?"

The second he said 'ghosts' he heard thunderous footsteps behind Mrs. Fenton and his eyes went wide, bracing for some terrible thing to happen. Someone was angry, he could feel it in the way the house shook. But next thing he knew..

"Ghosts?! You want to hear me blather on about ghosts, do you?! I'll tell you everything I know!" An absurdly large man hurriedly tried to push himself into the same door frame as Mrs. Fenton but gave up and settled for standing behind her. He towered over her (and himself, damn be it to his manly pride). Donning a bright orange jumpsuit that would be more suitable at a construction site, and a smile like his kid getting ice cream for the first time, the man beamed at him. Jack, he presumed.

"Well come on in," Mrs. Fenton said, nodding into her house, not perturbed by this boisterous man, "I'll answer you as best as I can, Officer."

She ended up shooing away her husband while McFalin hung up his coat. She mentioned fudge and ecto...something and Mr. Fenton got excited and he ran down the basement stairs just as hurriedly as he came up.

Mrs. Fenton, meanwhile, ushered McFalin over to their large, blue kitchen table. "Would you like something to drink? Water, tea, coffee?" She offered.

"Just water, ma'm. I'm only going to ask a few questions and then I'll be out of your hair." She nodded while he sat down and politely waited for her to fill two glasses with tap water, set them down on the table, and sit down herself before he began his questioning.

"Alright , I'd like you to tell me the basics of what's going on around here. Just stick to the simple things." Maybe he could be out of here in just 10 minutes instead of the hours that Mr. Fenton would have most likely kept him given his "blather on about ghosts" speech.

She ended up taking quite a bit of time; there was a lot to go over. She explained ectoplasm, which he thought was just something out of science fiction. She mentioned power levels, the various 'ghost powers' she'd seen, and the way their own technology worked. Apparently they had a machine that took ambient ectoplasm and stored it so they could "charge" their weapons.

When he asked if she had a licence for weaponry, something that could hurt people, he reminded her sternly, she simply smiled, took out a gun attached to her hip, and blasted her own hand with it. He had half a mind to scold her and half a mind to get her right to a hospital, but when her hand turned up unscathed, he shook his head in disbelief. She explained that, while there was a bit of knockback to ecto-weaponry, it couldn't harm humans.

After that display, he sighed and leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the table. He ended up just calling her Maddie, skipping the formalites he'd use for shorter cases that didn't take up hours of his free time.

"To be completely truthful, I didn't see much of a problem when I first came here. Empty streets? Could just be a school day. Odd signs hung up? Could just be some schoolkids' idea of a prank. I've seen these things before. Thing is...the way people act is what tipped me off."

She nodded, urging him to go on like she understood perfectly. "I've seen the look the people here give me. Reminds me of going undercover sometimes. It's like they know I'm the odd one out in a room of like-minded people. And then I talked with someone who brought up the ghost problem-"

"Infestation." She corrected, testily.

"Right, infestation." He agreed, hesitantly. "She brought it up right away, like it was common. I get it now. It really is. Thing is, she thought it was just some thing they all had to deal with every day. Like driving. Got angry when I questioned if it was even real."

But before Maddie could respond, her front door opened. Shaggy black hair sticking out far from his face, a kid walked in. Maddie's and Jack's probably.

When he saw this kid, no older than 14 years old by the looks of it, he saw that same look in his eyes. Cautious, nervous, scared. Not the kind of scared before doing something nerve-wracking like an interview. No. He looked right at his own mother like she was coming at him with a knife. Like she had dedicated her entire existence to seeing him dead on their basement floor, bloody and dismembered.

But he just smiled at Maddie nonchalantly in the end. "Hey mom, what's going on? Who's this?" He pointed at McFalin.

McFalin looked over at Maddie expectantly, but she didn't even notice her son being clearly afraid of her. Or maybe it was just this house. There were weapons of all kinds just sitting on the living room couch, hoisted on his parent's hips, even the appliances were glowing with the eerie green substance he now knew was ectoplasm. None of that could hurt him, he assumed. Maddie had explicitly shown him how humans reacted to ecto-guns. Barely even a knockback. So then...what was this kid scared of?

"Danny I'm meeting with someone important right now, could you go downstairs and help your dad out in the lab for a bit?" Maddie said, motioning for him to go down the stairs behind McFalin.

Oh Danny did not like that. The officer saw it: the tensing of the shoulders, quickened breathing, shaking hands clutching his backpack straps even tighter. This kid was scared, damn scared, of his own parents. Or maybe just their profession. Yes, that's what it was. What kid would be scared of his own parents when they're such upstanding people, so willing to talk to an officer like him? Certainly no abusers he'd arrested talked to him with no fear or anger.

But Danny just rubbed the back of his neck, his tell for being nervous, most likely. "Actually I was gonna go do some homework."

Maddie brightened up at that. "Oh that's just fine sweetie! Go on and do your work while I talk to Officer McFalin here." Danny rushed upstairs. Has to be freezing, going by the cold puff of air he saw before Danny ran upstairs, hopefully to get a sweater.

But something about that kid disturbed him, still. The flighty nature he'd only seen in people who'd been hurt by others, yet the comfortableness everywhere but the down those stairs into the Fenton's lab. Just another thing to file away for later, though. He shook his head.

"I've seen quite a few strange things here. Some just odd, some disturbing, but most interestingly I've heard tell of some kind of invasion. Are the ghosts giving you bigger problems than you can handle?" He was determined. The other officer might have brushed it off, but he was here to help. If there was something they couldn't handle, his department would sweep in and take care of it, no doubt.

She frowned again and clutched the gun still in her hands a bit tighter. "Yes. Recently there was an invasion." She set the gun down on the table before continuing. Good. Even if it didn't hurt people the idea of a gun in an angry person's hands didn't sit right with him.

"Not too long ago a powerful ghost came after Phantom. He saw himself as some sort of lawmaker and wanted Phantom out of the town and into jail. So did most of the elderly and working class people in Amity. That wasn't the problem." She swiped at her face, trying to keep a calm facade. "The ghost, Walker, overshadowed countless people. Jack and I were working for days to keep people safe and away from being overshadowed. We-"

"I'm gonna have to stop you right there ma'am. What's overshadowing?"

"To be blunt, it's possession. A ghost will phase into you and take over your mind. Forcefully." That also didn't sit right with him. But she continued.

"I've lived here for a long time so I can say this with a lot of certainty: Everyone in Amity Park has been overshadowed at some point. It could be for any reason, really. Some putrid ghosts wanting to play a prank? A ghost attacking, being beaten, and suddenly needing a hiding place? It's happened to more people, especially high schoolers, than you would think."

"And...what's his name? Phantom?" The name clearly got a response. Her eyebrows now faced downwards, and he could hear her jaw clenching when she spoke next, like she was holding back every insult and swear she could think of.

"Phantom shows up at the local high school a lot. Destroys things, uses our technology to suck up the ghosts into a portable storage container that he probably stole, then vanishes. But... even if I don't like Phantom.. he did indeed save people's lives during the invasion. The mayor was another story." she mumbled the last part.

He thought about it for a second, a ghost fighting other ghosts, that is, but decided to change the subject. Just another thing to file away for later. "So what's the issue? That is, what is it they were doing while...in the people they were possessing?"

She waved a hand, dismissing him. "No, that isn't the problem. They didn't do much, to be honest. Just went after Phantom. A few got injured, but nothing serious." 

"No, the problem was with how invasive it felt." She took a sip of her water before she went on. "Some describe it as a stage magician snapping and going 'sleep' and you pass out right away. Some other people describe it as a fight in their mind for their body where they always lose. Some don't even notice until it's over and they see the ghost looming over their body while trying to stop the headache forming."

"Not only that but you lose your memory for as long as you were taken over. Could just be a few seconds, could be weeks if the ghost was dedicated. Or just in it for the long con." She frowned at that, thinking of the time her own children were hurt and tormented by Phantom not too long ago.

"It's invasive, it's disturbing, and it's a terrible thing to go through. Especially for the people who aren't overshadowed." Now that didn't feel right. He wouldn't want someone in his body, that's for sure. But not being taken over is still bad?

"How so?" he asked.

"On the outside it seems ok. You think it's just your normal family or friends. But they act..strange. Their eyes change color. That same shade of green we know as ectoplasm. And they move..oddly. Like their skin doesn't fit right. Like it's not right for them to breath and bleed and bruise like we do."

"I've been around overshadowed people when even I couldn't tell so I can confidently say that you wouldn't be able to tell. You don't know what it's like." She paused, then sighed, clearly distressed talking about all this without getting emotional. "Do you have children, officer?"

He nodded, fully intrigued with whatever she was about to say.

"You watch them grow up. Ride a bike, write their first story, draw their first picture, get a good grade on a high school test." He nodded. He'd seen some of those things with his first kid, and his second one was coming up on the age of bike riding.

Her calm look turned serious. "You'd never be able to tell. Never. They'd go through their entire life with you holding their hand right there with them, and you'd never know they'd been possessed by some ghost with cruel intentions."

For the first time since entering this town he could imagine what life was like here. His wife, his children, all possessed. And he'd think everything was fine. It..scared him. They sat there in silence as the realness of this place sank in. Amity Park was never safe. He wanted to leave right now.

"Well this has been very...informative. I appreciate you talking to me, but I'm afraid I'm on a schedule and I must be going." Lies. He didn't have anywhere to be but out of here.

"Yes, I suppose you should." She said quietly, standing and grabbing both of their cups gently. He didn't stick around long enough to see her put them in the sink, though he heard the faint clink of glass. He just grabbed his coat and rushed out the door as fast as he could without seeming rude. He was still her guest, no matter how odd she, or her family, was.

And with an urgency he'd only felt while on the job and in great peril, he skipped town. He sped on his way out, passing a sign completely in ruins, contradicting it's phrase "A Nice Place to Live". He kept going and going until the town just loomed in the distance instead of flooding him with intrusive thoughts of his family.

He needed to get out. He needed to see his beautiful wife. His happy-go-lucky kids. Right now. He needed to see them right this second.

For some reason, he couldn't remember what color their eyes were.


End file.
